Terraria: The New Land
by Jordan2k4
Summary: Just a bunch of short chapters to honor the simplicity and fun of the game. This story follows a man who awakens on a strange land, and must learn to survive it. Who knows, he may just become the hero the land needs! Follow the stranger to Terraria and see what happens.
1. The House

The House

A gentle breeze brushed across the salt kissed skin. The small waves pulled at the legs. A pungent smell of seaweed filled the nostrils and choked life back into a body. A man lifted himself to his knees, wondering where he was, or what happened. He looked into the sky and the sun's bright rays blinded him. "Aaah," he moaned, grasping his head; it ached with the confusion of waking up on a beach.

The man blinked hard and regained his focus. His surroundings were very tropical, that of a beach, and a forest. The man looked around for signs of any others; but there was nobody in sight. The man rose to his feet; still a bit wobbly, and stepped off the shore and to the forest.

The shade felt good on the man's leathery, salt water-soaked skin. He found a big tree and sat back against its trunk, he wondered how he got this beach; wherever '_this_' beach was. Before long the man passed out from extreme exhaustion. When he awoke, the sun was ending its time in the sky and was setting behind the ocean's horizon. The temperature had dropped and it was surprisingly much cooler. In fact the man felt a bit chilly, he needed to build a fire.

The man wondered through the forest in search of something to chop wood with. Not long, he came upon an axe lying on the floor. He picked it up and began to chop the branches of a nearby tree. Strange sounds immediately crept into the nearby darkness. The man peered around the darkness, but saw nothing. He continued chopping wood, until, at last he had enough logs to keep a fire for the night.

The fire was warm and made the man feel a little better about his predicament. His wet clothes had dried and his body stopped shivering. Just then something brushed his back. It felt soft like silk, yet slimy. He leapt to his feet in fright. He grabbed his axe and held it tight. The man looked out into the black, but saw nothing. He grabbed a burning log and used it as a torch. And suddenly, floating in front of him was a large eyeball looking at him; its long tentacles waving back and forth in the air behind it. Just then the eyeball flew into him, knocking him backwards and into the fire.

The man was lucky enough that his roll out of the flames put the minor fires out. The monster circled around in the air and came flying back at the man. This time the man brought his axe back and chopped hard on the eye. Juices sprayed the night air and a loud pop echoed through the trees. And then, to the man's disbelief, more flying eyeballs fluttered out of the trees and into the dark sky. The creatures all circled the man and attacked relentlessly.

The man swung his axe in defense, but it was no use, there was too many. Instead, he ran for it. Between trees he dodged. Over large roots and under rock archways the man skipped and sprinted. And then, a small light appeared in the distance. It was a lamp, and the man's only hope for shelter. He ducked more attacks and repelled others with the swing of his axe and torch, until he finally made it to the lamp. Just a few feet away was small house. Normally, the man would never enter a person's house without permission; but this was a dire circumstance. So he forced open the door to the house and slammed it quickly behind him. He was safe, finally. He didn't know what those things were, but he knew one thing… they were bad news.

It wasn't long before the door opened, and the man's heart raced. '_Was it those monsters again_?' No, in fact it was another man. "Hmm, this is an odd sight." the man said.

"I'm sorry, for breaking in. I'll leave…" the stranger started.

"Ah, so you're the reason those Demon Eyes are going blood thirsty out there." the owner of the house interrupted.

The stranger sighed a heavy sigh, "Like I said mate, sorry for the interruption. I'll be on my way."

"Nonsense," the owner said blocking the door, "that's just suicide. Why not stay the night, and in the morning you may leave?" he offered.

The stranger was taken back by the man's kindness. "I appreciated your hospitality sir." he said.

"Of course, it's not like I get allot of company out here." the owner replied. "My name is Joe, and this here is my crab-shack. I'm a fisherman by trait. But I see you gathered that already by my abundant amount of fish in here." Joe said. "What's your name?" he asked.

The stranger thought for a moment, he couldn't remember his name.

"Kid?" said Joe, putting his coat on the hanger.

"Oh, sorry… My name's John." he answered.

"So John, where do you hail from?" Joe inquired.

"I don't remember…" replied John.

"What happened to you then?" Joe asked.

"I can't remember that either." said John.

"Well, if you're going to survive Terraria, you'll need a house." Joe said. "I'd offer you my axe to start but it looks like you already found it."

John looked at the tool. "Keep it, you'll need it more than I." said Joe. "Get some rest, tomorrow morning you can begin building your house. I'll help of course."

John nodded, and then turned in for the night. The next morning Joe stuck to his word, and assisted John in chopping wood, turning the raw materials into lumber, and turning that lumber into walls. Soon John had a two-story cottage. It was quant, and more importantly safe. The two had taken roughly five days to construct John's house; all the meanwhile staying at Joe's shack.

"It's pretty empty in here I reckon." Joe spat.

"This is true." Muttered John.

Joe looked at John, "Lets make you some furniture." Joe said.


	2. John the Carpenter

John the Carpenter

John, with the help of the fisherman Joe, became quite the skillful carpenter. He had over the next couple weeks constructed a workbench of his own as well as his bed, a table, chairs, a fireplace, and a strong iron sword. John had cleared a small patch of forest and harvested a lot of wood. He had stored his extra lumber in a small shed he built.

Not long after, John had made another clearing; where he found a large cave hidden deep between the trees and shrubs. John was curious as to what he might find down in the subterranean world, so he set off down the steep mud and rock decline. As John climbed down the gaping hole, the sunlight gradually disappeared. This of course made it impossible to see; so John lit himself a torch. The fire lit up a wide area for John to see. All around him was iron ore; he had managed to stumble onto a plethora of iron. But alas, the man was without a pickaxe. So John turned around and climbed out of the cave.

At its entrance, John quickly put together a very small shack; no bigger than able to fit four men, squished together. Outside the door he placed a torch holder and a chair. Inside he built himself a workbench and another chair. John peered out the window; night would be here soon, and so would those creatures… those Demon Eyes. By the time John was finished putting his finishing touches on his shack night had come, only this time instead of the dull thuds of Demon Eye's battering his roof, he now heard the gargled moans of something else.

John killed the light and from the dark safety of his house gazed out his one window. Black silhouettes in the shape of mangled people wondered about in a lost manner. Their moans haunted his night and gave him very restless sleep. Just before John passed out for the remainder of the night he wondered what this strange land he had come to was? Though he couldn't remember anything from before the beach, he was pretty sure none of this was normal.

The next morning John awoke to the sound of birds chirping. He stretched; the floor wasn't the best bed in the world. He stood and walked over to his workbench, he was about to get back to working when a knock came at his door. John answered and found a man standing directly in front of his face. "Uh, can I help you?" John asked.

The man bowed and smiled, "Yes sir, I was on my daily stroll, and noticed your precarious hut by this cave that I have passed since I was a lad." the man at the door said. John was just about to speak, but the man interrupted, "My name is Barks, and today sir, is your lucky day!"

"It is?" John inquired.

"Why yes, I am a Guide you see. I have trekked across the lands of Terraria and lived quite a bountiful life if that bounty is experience and knowledge." Barks said.

"Oh, wow, alright Mr. Barks. How can I help you?" John asked

"Well I noticed that you built your house close to this cave, a cave of which I know a thing or two about." said Barks.

"Yeah I was gathering wood, and found this cave. When I went down to investigate I found the cavern was full of…" John paused; unsure what the man's real intentions were.

"Iron!" the Guide said ecstatically.

"Yeah, how'd you know?" asked John.

"Have you not been listening to a word from my mouth boy?" Barks spat in befuddlement. "I am a Guide, I've trekked…"

"Yes, yes, I heard you." John said.

"Right, so you will need a pickaxe to mine your most basic ore's. I see you already have your wood axe, and your iron sword. But let me ask you, where is your armor?" Barks pointed out.

"Armor? For what?" inquired John.

"To protect yourself my lad, what else?" the man said spastically. By John's face, the Guide knew the man was still confused. "You are very new to Terraria, but there are some basic things you should know boy. First, Terraria is a dangerous place, especially at night. Though the people live in peace there is still a dark presents that grows from deep within the earth. That being said, you must protect yourself. I'd recommend using some of that ore down there and making yourself some iron armor." said Barks. "Second, there aren't a lot of other people in the land of Terraria, so we have to stick together. Help others and they'll help you. Don't let the darkness take over."

By now John had let the Guide in. The man sat at the workbench, "Lastly boy, you seem to be pretty skilled in carpentry. This is an invaluable talent to have. It will serve you and others well. Build as much as you can. Learn from others, and expand your architectural knowledge." Barks finished his little lecture and stepped towards the door. "I thank you for your hospitality, as well as your listening ear. I pray you safe journeys." Barks said.

"Of course sir, err, Barks." replied John. "Um, if I have any questions, where can I find you?" he asked.

"I'll be around lad." the Guide said, and with that he left.


	3. The First Cave

The First Cave

John descended down the slanted path; it was hard though carrying a bag full of gear. But he was determined to dig deeper, to find what was further down. The call of exploration burned bright in his heart and mind, it was all he could think of. So, John kept digging, and mining, and collecting more and more rock and iron ore. Soon John stumbled upon a small deposit of amethyst. John was carrying a pretty heavy load and decided to head back to his shack. He was glad he had built it now as a checkpoint between the cave and his house.

As John climbed, he noticed that there seemed to be no light up above. '_How long was I in here_?' he wondered to himself. When John climbed up and out into the open air, it was night. The walking dead had surrounded his house, flying eyes littered the sky, and blobs of slimy jelly fell over the mouth of the cave and in between John and his safe haven. There was only one thing to do, and that's fight!

John unsheathed his sword and hacked a Slime in half, then in another half; again and again he did that until there was no Slime left to fight. "One down." he muttered to himself. John had the advantage over the Zombies, coming at them from behind. He hacked and slashed through their slushy, rotting body; heads fell from their bodies, arms from their sockets. John was feeling good about his skill in combat. These walkers were nothing; in fact they were dropping like flies. And then, all of the sudden there came a hard THUMP at his back.

John tumbled to the ground, that attack hurt pretty stingkin' bad. John lifted himself to his hands and knees, but collapsed under the wait of the numerous Zombies. John struggled to turn himself over so he might provide himself some cover from the barrage of clawing hands and biting teeth. John cut his way back up to his feet, and dashed towards his hut. Eye gunk, blood, guts, and jelly sprayed into the air. The violence was becoming overwhelming as John's energy was being taxed heavily. It was just a bit further until John reached his door when a wretched hand grabbed his ankle and pulled him to the grassy floor.

John flipped to his back only to find a Demon Eye slam into his gut. He exhaled in pain but before he could take a breath he was slammed into by a Slime, rolling him across the ground and down into a ditch. Rain began to fall hard upon the back of John's head as he lay there in pain. The sounds of the monsters of the night drew closer. John shakily sat up, but he didn't hear the Slime coming and it cracked him hard against his sword arm. John's body tumbled further away from the monsters and his house.

Lighting cracked in the midnight blue sky above, followed quickly by deafening thunder. John crawled weakly; he needed to put distance between himself and the beasts. John managed to crawl out of the sight of the mob horde and around the back of his hut. He slipped in the door and shut it behind him. He remembered he had no bed at this place, which sucked. With his body weak, and his morale low, John collapsed on the wooden floor.

The next morning John decided he was going to put up some additional defenses to protect him as well as give him safe passage to this shack. He also decided to expand his "_shack_" into a larger, more comfortable house. John opened his door to go retrieve some more wood when he noticed a note tacked to his house. It was the schematics to build an amethyst staff. '_Curious_,' he thought, and he stashed the note in his pocket. After gathering more wood, John added onto his house, giving himself a few extra rooms, a couple beds, a kitchen, and a bathroom. He put up a fence around the perimeter of his house and spent a good deal of the day digging an underground tunnel from his house to the cave.

As night approached John sat back on his porch and watched the sun set. He sipped on some hot cider that he had brewed from his newly furnished kitchen; this was much nicer. He wondered why he hadn't just built all this in the first place. Once the darkness fell, John retired to his house and went to bed.

The next day John grabbed some of the iron he had, and constructed an anvil to create more, high quality tools. With the anvil, John was able to create the amethyst staff. He walked outside and practiced on a few Slimes. Bolts of white light shot forth from the staff's tip, popping the little jellies like water balloons. "This will be useful." he gleefully said to himself. John went back inside and began work on a suit of iron armor.

It was mid-day already, and the carpenter had a new set of armor and an emptier bag with only tools he would need for mining. John headed down his newly built passage and into the cave. The cave was damp, with pools dotting the ground from the rain two nights prior. As soon as John closed his passageway door and turned to step down, he slipped in the mud. He slid down the hill until it dropped off where he fell onto another slippery slide descending in the opposite direction. It was too dark for John to get a clear view of his surroundings, which added to his disorientation.

John reached for his pickaxe; grabbing it he sunk it into the soft earth. He came to an abrupt halt, hyper extending his arm, "Aaaaarhg!" he shouted in agony. For the moment, John was not falling down a muddy slope to an uncertain conundrum. He reached into his bag and brought out a torch; lighting it with some difficulty. He gazed around taking in the breathtaking view. Crystals littered the walls reflecting a rainbow of light throughout the cavern. Iron, silver, and gold peeked out from the rocky rooftop, filling John's head with the endless possibilities of things he could create.

John now had to figure out how to get to all this treasure. He grabbed his sword to better climb with, when all of the sudden his pickaxe slipped form the mud. The carpenter rolled backwards, bumping into rocks, flipping over mounds; until he was hurled over a cliff and into a deep pool. His torch put out, his pickaxe and sword at the bottom of a crater filled with water; John was down on his luck. And then, when John had thoughts of giving up, a hand reached into the clear pool grabbing him by the shoulder. A man pulled John out and onto land, "Are you okay?" the man said.

John choked up water and responded, "Yes, yes, I guess I am." John got to his feet and a woman handed him his bag of tools. And then John noticed his two saviors were dressed in strange armored apparel. The man stood very tall and very broad; his armor was black and full of spikes. The woman was the same height as John; her armor was white with green lined seems. "I thank you for your help." John said.

"Of course, good thing we were wondering the same caves." the man replied. "My name is Luke, and this is my friend Emily." the man introduced. "What brings you down here?"

John introduced himself and explained his reasoning for being in that cave. The other two decided to help escort John back to the surface of the cave and help teach him how to build a whole plethora of new items. And that is what they did.


	4. Scarletton Town

Scarletton Town

John had put his curiosity for his cave on hold for the moment to turn his attention to the construction of a few more houses for his new comrades. But not long after he had put up those houses, more people began to show up. For instance, Peter the alchemist turned up whilst scavenging mushrooms and sunflower seeds. Schala the painter and her son Freisha wondered upon the small construction site. People like Mark the merchant, Lili the cook and cook husband Frederick, and Goolag the blacksmith.

Goolag and John became friends quickly due to their relevant skills. Goolag, the very husky and rough woman, seemed to be unmatched in her skills to weld and manipulate metals and ore. But not just Goolag assisted with the building, Schala helped paint the houses, and Lili and Frederick prepared the nourishment to keep the gang going. Luke and Emily provided superior perimeter security while John built.

Before long, John had put up a mansion, and a watchtower, opposite of the cave-side of town. He hadn't even realized that he had put up extra buildings. For John it felt good, being able to work with his hands. To take in the fresh air; he felt strange deep down, as if he were really alive. He put the extra lumber away as sweat dripped from his brow and fell like the sun to the floor. His work was finally over, and John could now get back to mining in his cave.

The village was glowing with candlelight and torches, its occupants safe for the time being. John had put his dishes in the sink and was on his way upstairs when a knock came at his door. The carpenter paused; his body tired, but he stepped down the stairs and walked to the door. Standing outside, John found a beautiful blond haired woman dressed in white.

"Hello sir, my name is Scarlett and I have been wondering these lands for a while now." the woman said. John's eyes opened wide with curiosity. "I'm sorry, I know this is a late hour, but I haven't been able to find a town like this since I woke up here." Scarlett added.

Now John became more attentive, "You, you woke up in this land as well?" he asked. The woman nodded. _I'm not the only one_… the man thought to himself. "I woke up here too. About three, maybe four weeks ago I think." John said.

Scarlett's eyes widened too now, "Do you remember anything?" she asked John.

"Nothing." he replied. Then he realized that he had been keeping this poor girl outside this whole time. "Ah, damn, please come in." he said stepping aside and showing the woman in. Scarlett stepped inside and the two talked the night away.

That week John, and most of the town's people worked down in the cave; they dug deep into the earth, finding rare and exotic ores and building great, intricate tunnels. Until one day the group could mine no further. The soil they hacked and picked at was too hard, too condensed. After much consideration John and the others decided to explore a new route.

Topside John stopped at his house for a bit to eat where he was greeted by Scarlett and Lili. The two were cooking food for the gangs return and talking about Scarlett's time in Terraria. Scarlett, as John found out had been a nurse; or at least that's what she thinks. And her skills in medicine seemed to prove so when she swiftly tended to Mark who suffered a sprained ankle in the caves. The town's folk gathered at the gazebo where a large table sat. They blessed the meal and began to eat.

"You know, we have no name for this town." Luke said nonchalantly.

"Well John did pretty much build this town, so I think he should give this place a name." said Frederick. Everyone agreed.

John hadn't even thought about naming the small town. He had no clue, "Scar-lett-on…" he said awkwardly. The others squinted at him in confusion. "Scarletton Town." he said more confidently. For a moment there was an uncomfortable silence. John didn't even chew, rather just kept his food in the pockets of his cheeks, in hopes someone would say something.

"That sounds alright." Emily said.

"Yeah, I could go with that." added Schala.

"Has a good ring to it." Peter and Goolag said together. "Jinx, jinx… jinx." Nobody ended up winning the jinx-off. But the town had a new name!


	5. Second Life

Second Life

John, Mark, Emily, and Goolag had set out a day prior to explore the world topside this time; rather than going down, they figured across would be just as lucrative. Of course movement along the crust of the earth was much faster than _through_ it. Fortunately for the gang the day was a beautiful one; with the sun shining, a gentle breeze that carried the sweet scent of flowers, and not one encounter from a monster. Monsters were abundant in the land of Terarria as told by Mark and Emily. John had only face the undead and strange floating eyeballs; he couldn't imagine what else strange creatures lay out in the world.

Evening crept in and slowly cooled the land. John and the others had shed their bulky armor plating to gain some relief from the sweltering, humid weather. But now, they had pieced their complete armor set back together. All John had left was his new, royal blue cape. He strapped the cloth into his shoulder pads when all of the sudden he hear a crack of a twig near their location. His, like the other two had his head on a swivel now. He scanned the surrounding forest for movement, then again for anything odd; such as discoloration, reflections, unusual shapes, but nothing. John chalked it up to nothing more than forest creatures scampering about.

"Where to now?" John asked Mark.

Mark, being the well traveled merchant he claimed, told John and Emily of a deep jungle" Mark said. "We can make the outskirt by nightfall. Before entering we can set up camp and rest until dawn."

"It's a good idea John." Emily agreed.

"Right, let's collect some lumber on the way to make a proper camp though." said John. The three continued up a grassy burm, and through a creek. While traveling John couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. Maybe they were being followed, or maybe something bad was going to happen. John didn't know why he was feeling this way, and it didn't help that nightfall had seem to come quicker than expected. Dark, heavy clouds had rolled in from the east as if from nowhere and blotted out the fleeting sun. No sun, no moon, no stars; just pure darkness.

Mark held a long torch as Emily to lead and John the rear in their file formation. The forest was pitch black which made the sounds of all the night's creatures echo and amplify. Every _hoot_, every _snarl _caught John's ear twisting his head from side to side. And then, there it came, the fear that John had been keeping in the pit of his stomach. It came in the form of a heavy _THUMP_ upon the back plate of the carpenter.

John stumbled to his knees, but caught himself on the branches of a tree. He clambered up quickly and drew his sword. "We got incoming!" he shouted. The gang prepared themselves for a fight. Mark used a jar with a fallen star to light up a large portion of the forest, and freeing his hands for combat. Demon Eyeballs soared through the night sky, twisting and spiraling before descending to the travelers. This time though, John was more experienced with such a foe and batted them away as if playing a leisurely game of baseball. Emily, on the other side of Mark, danced about gracefully cutting and slashing her aggressors. She was not one fight with brute strength. She did not wear heavy armor, nor use an overly large weapon disproportionate to her size. Her fighting style reflected just that; light, whimsical, and effective for her nature. Mark… well Mark was a merchant, and his skills in combat shown; he was just able to slightly defend himself.

Once the group was safe from harm, John decided that now would be a better time than later to set up camp. He set his lumber aside and began to dig deep into the soft forest dirt. Mark assisted while Emily kept watch. Soon the two diggers were a good ten feet down. Emily dropped the wood down for John to get to building. John was very effective at construction now and in no more than an hour had built a five-room house, deep in the earth. John and Mark climbed the stairs out and put the finishing touches on a small shack to serve as the doorway to the underground shelter. Once the small box hut was complete, the three buried the roof of the house under a heavy layer of dirt.

"Why'd we burry a house under ground?" Mark inquired.

"Why not?" replied Emily.

"Because it's cool," added John, "and it gives added protection."

"Ah… good point."

The three entered the hut one by one and took the stairs down the main house below and retired to their rooms for some shuteye. That night John had a very unusual set of dreams. It started with him sitting in front of a desk, unlike any he had seen since being in Terarria. Everything was blurry but he could make out his clothes. They stood out because they looked like the clothes he woke up on the beach in. At the desk was a monitor, though John couldn't really make out what was on the screen. Suddenly John shifted in his sleep and his dreams went elsewhere.

The world was ending, and he had to protect his family. But who was his family? The skies were falling apart above him with the stars raining down along the land and fire erupting from the earth's crevasses. And then, somehow his family was there, standing on a large metal ship, something that looked from the future. A beautiful woman with hair as red as the lava surrounding them, waved from the safety of the ship. John reached out to her but was suddenly ripped from this strange woman as he shifted into another dream.

This last one was strange as there was nothing around. Just blackness, though John could still see himself. A lamp post stood solitaire with an old man leaned against it. "What are you doing there?" asked John.

"I am waiting." the elder man answered. But before John could ask another question, he awoke.

The next morning brought an exhausted John to the table; he rubbed his baggy eyes and yawned.

"Rough night?" Emily asked.

"Yeah."

She handed him a cup of coffee and sat next to him. John sipped the hot drink and its burning liquid contents woke his body. Mark sat across from the two, "Well, are we ready for the jungle?" he inquired.

John gulped the rest on his _Joe_ down and the three exited the house to find a wet, rainy day. "Great." John muttered grumpily.


End file.
